OFFICIAL VEKN LASOMBRA NEWSLETTER -- April 2004
by Eric Manch / sleeveboy
This month has been quite eventful, both for VTES and for our
Clan of Night. The Gehenna expansion is barely over a month away, and
players all over the world are currently enjoying the Prophesies
leagues. Gehenna will introduce some new elements to the game, with
Event cards and Group 4 vampires being the most notable among them.
There's plenty of other material in this month's Newsletter including
a new fiction installment continuing the story begun in January, an
in-depth discussion of our newest Lasombra vampire, and of course a
new Deck of the Month.
Please enjoy!
FICTION
On the US-Canadian border 4:48 am
Life in the Black Hand was a lot like life in the Army: short
moments of terror followed by long stretches of boredom. But in the
Hand, where fear of the Antediluvians was a religion, even the boring
moments were fraught with terror. Katherine Stoddard did her best to
keep thoughts of the end times at arm's length, but these days the
signs were impossible to ignore. Though she had yet to experience
them, nightmares grew more rampant among the vampires she knew. They
had visions of transforming, flame-belching dragons, and dreams that
turned entire packs insane. Elders disappeared and were replaced at a
rate unusual even for the Sabbat. As a remover, she had been party to
several of these secret "replacements," but remained out of the loop
of many others. Even more disturbingly, the sect seemed to be losing
its cohesion. Some nights it was only fear of the Hand that kept the
sect from total degeneration.
And it was fear of failure, both of the consequences to her
and to the sect, that focused her this night. She and Henri Lavenant
had taken up scouting positions just beyond the U.S. crossing point of
the Peace Bridge. They waited for Prince Lladislas' entourage to
cross the bridge. She manned a sniper rifle about 300 yards from the
bridge, while Henri waited in the shadows. The plan was simple, a
smash and grab. She would incapacitate the lead car while Lavenant
attacked the Prince's car from the side. A local pack from
Lackawanna, the Rust Belt, was supposed to provide support, but where
the hell were they? Katherine looked at her watch.
A grimy Ford sedan lumbered over the hill opposite the bridge.
She couldn't quite discern the model, but it couldn't be older than
mid-90s. But the car had so much rust and dirt that it looked like
it had come back from a road trip across the Russian steppes. Four
pale, forgettable-looking faces emerged from the car. Katherine
emerged from her sniper's nest and walked towards them.
"Are you Stoddard?" asked the one who stepped from the
driver's seat. He lingered on the "o" in "Stoddard" for a long, hard
half-second. Probably spent his entire life in Buffalo, she thought.
Becoming a vampire was probably the best thing that ever happened to
him.
She looked him down. "Call me Katherine. You're late. Get
your pack into position and take that damn car off the road. This is
supposed to be an ambush."
The driver froze for a beat, then spoke. "I'm Mitch. Bishop
told me you're Hand. Is that right?" Mitch was tall and a little
chubby. He wore a red cap, black jacket and jeans. Tufts of blonde
hair peaked out of his cap. His pack members didn't look any more
impressive: behind him stood a gangly man with glasses and greasy
black hair, a short raven-haired girl with a blank look in her eye,
and an agitated-looking punk kid with a baseball bat.
"You'll find out soon enough. If you survive, and you'll gain
the favor of someone in a position to help you. More, I am not
prepared to say at this time."
Mitch shrugged, disappointed yet aware of the perils of
talking back to a superior. Just then Henri made his appearance,
emerging from the shadows behind the pack. "Greetings, friends. I am
Henri. Come with me, I will tell you what I want you to do. You've
brought weapons with you, yes?"
The girl snapped out of her trance and spoke. "Four MAC-10s,
a Desert Eagle, an MP5 and a pair of TEC-9s."
"Fire sale at the local gun shop," said the punk, snickering.
This is exactly what she didn't need, thought Katherine. Trouble with
the local kine would only complicate this operation.
"Take the automatic weapons and go with Henri. The plan is
simple: I disable the lead car, you guys jump out and perforate the
prince's car with bullets. Leave the prince to Henri. Your job is to
take out the ghouls. I trust that a few of you know how to manipulate
shadows?"
The punk and Mitch raised their hands.
"Good. Head down the hill and disguise yourselves."
Katherine took her pistol and shot out two nearby lights. "Let's get
moving."
Henri and the Rust Belt disappeared down the hill. Katherine
turned and moved into her sniper's nest.
--
Ten minutes later a dot of light appeared near the Canadian side of
the bridge. Two cars. Katherine steeled herself and looked through
the scope. The cars were moving faster than normal. Katherine
blinked. They were tearing across the bridge at top speed. She
cursed. Had they been tipped off? Did the pack turn against them?
No time for second-guessing, she told herself. She aimed at
the driver of the lead car. Two hundred yards to target. Carefully,
she waited till the car crossed the bridge. One hundred yards. She
pulled the trigger. The driver's head jerked, and the car sped
violently off the road. She hoped the car didn't take out her men on
the ground.
A burst of automatic fire followed. Surprisingly, the car
braked and swung across the road. Only one person walked out. It was
Lladislas. Grinning with pain, fangs bared, the proud Brujah dashed
with superhuman speed toward the bridge. Katherine dumped the rifle
and ran for the bridge.
"He's running for it! Chase him down! He can't have much
blood left
"
Katherine didn't finish her sentence. As a vampire she was
well-accustomed to all kinds of indescribable phenomena blood magic,
shapeshifting vampires, superhuman speed but this was something
truly alien. She knew of vozhd, enormous fusions of animal and human
flesh used to defend the lands of ancient Eastern European vampire
lords, but this thing was hungrier. Faster. More intelligent. It
had a shifting number of mouths, arms and legs. One moment it ran
across the bridge on two legs; the next it had sprouted six additional
legs and had flopped forward onto its belly, crawling like a
caterpillar. Its height seemed to shift anywhere between eight to
sixteen feet.
Lladislas rushed head-on at the monster. With rage he flailed
his arms at it, causing it to cry out in a deep, many-mouthed scream.
Just as Lladislas had seized its two (present) arms, two scissor-like
protrusions emerged from its belly. These arms penetrated Lladislas's
body one after the other, causing it to shudder, shriek, and finally
rip apart at the torso.
The Rust Belt were the next casualty. With a terrible swipe,
the thing crushed the punk kid with its many-flanged arm. A hail of
bullets caused the thing to halt for a moment. Its body shuddered,
and a wave passed over its flesh. After a second it resumed its
attack, grasping the girl in its claws. A mouth closed over her
torso, and she cried out once. Mitch and his packmate held out
longer, sidestepping the beast's blows as best they could. But in a
matter of seconds the thing passed over them like a bulldozer, leaving
only bloody puddles behind.
And then the thing's head heaved forward violently. Henri
emerged from behind, grasping at the thing's back. He was in shadow
form: slightly taller, his arms covered in a slimy black carapace,
fangs bared in a giant maw. Briefly he turned his head to Katherine.
"Quickly! Get the car!"
Katherine willed her blood to flow in her legs. If she could
concentrate hard enough, she could move several times faster than her
normal running speed nowhere near the speed of someone like
Lladislas, but enough to get to the car before the thing tore Henri
apart. Or so she hoped.
She darted through the trees until she reached the car.
Hastily she unlocked the door and hit the ignition. Her foot hit the
floor. With a great rumble, the Impala burst over the hill and sped
toward the battle.
She couldn't see Henri anymore.
The thing was lurching confusedly. It spotted Katherine. She
slammed the brakes and spun the car around. She felt the ground shake
as the thing lumbered toward her. Blood began to pour from her face.
She threw the car into reverse. The thing was caught in
midstep by the Impala's bumper. It lost its footing and fell
backward. She could barely see it now. She stepped out of the car to
look at the scene. Henri was behind the car in human form, wounded.
She grabbed him by the arm and shoved him into the passenger seat,
then leapt across the dash. Before she had even slammed the driver's
side door her foot leveled the accelerator.
"Henri, can you hear me?" She slammed the door and adjusted
herself.
Henri smirked, then coughed up some blood. "Well enough."
"Hold on, we're getting out of here."
The thing had recovered and was now pursuing them. It had
grown large, muscular legs and was gaining ground rapidly.
"Whatever that thing is, I hope it's a vampire. First light
hits soon. It's our only chance of killing this thing."
Henri smiled. "So the stories were true after all."
"What?"
"You know them as well as I. The Red Star, Gehenna, the end
times. It looks like the Eldest has returned."
Katherine closed her eyes. The Eldest of the Tzimisce clan,
master of metamorphosis. Of all the Antediluvians, he was the
scariest, the one that all Sabbat secretly feared would return. A few
elders even claimed he never left, of course, but they were
universally dismissed as cowards or crackpots. She never had an
opinion either way, but this thing turned her into a believer.
Suddenly Katherine came across a massive roadblock. Lining
the road were rows of soldiers. Behind them stood several pieces of
artillery. Before Katherine could react, one of them lit up with a
bang. She slammed the brakes. The thing that had pursued them
staggered back, then burned from the inside. Flames erupted forth,
quickly consuming it.
"Ma'am, sir, step out of the vehicle please." Four soldiers
had approached the car. Katherine and Henri looked at each other and
instinctively reached for their weapons.
"Don't even think about it, ma'am." Four M4s pointed squarely
at their heads. "We know who you are." He paused. "And what you
are."
Katherine puzzled over the statement. They know? What
happened to the world over the past 24 hours? Was the secret finally
out? Did the kine finally discover the truth about vampires? Before
she could ponder the implications any further a man in a tailored suit
approached the car. The soldiers' guns lowered, and the man peeked
his head through the crowd.
"Mr. Pieterzoon would like to see you both immediately."
--
VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH: Giangaleazzo, the Traitor
What better vampire to kick off G4 than an antitribu prince with a
hot discipline spread? Giangaleazzo is an exceptional vampire. His
POT makes him fearsome in combat, and his PRE and Prince title give
him solid voting capability (as well as access to superior Majesty).
His OBT gives him valuable stealth for bleeding and voting actions
plus a pinch of combat support (and who knows, maybe we'll even get an
OBT strike card worth playing in this set). He can even play Second
Traditions for intercept. This fact, along with his special ability
that allows him to untap during your discard phase when there are
Gehenna cards in play, makes him a great blocker.
He's also a premium member of the G3/4 Iron Glare club. So far he's
the twelfth vampire from that group with POT/PRE, making him able to
play the card at both superior and inferior. This makes him ideally
suited to an Iron Glare deck.
He has a few disadvantages, but nothing major. Lasombra can rush him
as a (D) action, but Lasombra combat decks still aren't that common
and Giangaleazzo is more than capable of handling himself in a fight.
His inferior Dominate is more troublesome. An 8-cap Lasombra without
DOM is an objectively poorer pool investment due to his inability to
Govern down, but you can mitigate this with Enchant Kindred or even
Fourth Tradition. If you're running a traditional Lasombra vote or
bleed deck, Gratiano obviously is a superior choice. But Giangaleazzo
still has much to recommend him.
CARD OF THE MONTH: Iron Glare
It's not just for Brujah anymore! A great multifaceted card, Iron
Glare finds its way into many of my decks. With Giangaleazzo on the
horizon, Lasombra players have an even better excuse to use it. Let's
examine closely what this card can do.
At inferior IG is equivalent to an inferior Bewitching Oration. At
superior it's equivalent to a superior, free (non-Toreador) Aire of
Elation. It's a vote and bleed card all in one. Most importantly, it
is a cheap, versatile way to attack your prey's pool. If you get
blocked during a bleed attempt, you can play Majesty and untap, then
push through a Kine Resources Contested with an Iron Glare. If the
bleed gets through, great; drop the Iron Glare and bleed for three.
By itself, IG isn't as good as a Conditioning or a Bewitching
Oration, but its versatility gives it a special value that is
difficult to quantify. If you're planning on building a deck heavy on
both bleed and vote (and featuring POT/PRE vampires), then IG saves
you valuable card slots. What you do with those slots is up to you.
Maybe you've got a combat-heavy metagame and would like to include a
few more manuevers in your deck to foil the "other IG", Immortal
Grapple. Maybe you'd like to add some extra bloat or hitback. With
IG, the world is your oyster.
DECK OF THE MONTH: Stop Glaring at Me!
This month's deck is a first draft at a Giangaleazzo/Iron Glare-based
vote n' bleed deck. It's untested, and a little preemptory (who knows
what other good vampires Gehenna will offer for this sort of deck!),
but it'll get you thinking in the right direction. Comments and
feedback are encouraged.
Deck Name: Stop Glaring At Me!
Created By: sleeveboy
Description: Use the Iron Glares to keep your prey on his toes. Bleed
when you've got an opening. If things go bad, use a Majesty to untap
and call a vote instead.
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 13, Max: 32, Avg: 5.50)
----------------------------------------------
4 Giangaleazzo dom OBT POT PRE 8, Lasombra:4, Prince
2 Sir Ralph Hamilton cel POT PRE ser 6, Brujah:3
1 Wah Chun-Yuen cel dom pre POT 5, Brujah antitribu:3
1 Earl dom for pot 4, Ventrue:3
1 Diana Vick dom pre 3, Ventrue:3
1 Mazz cel pre 3, Brujah:3
1 Hester Reed obt pot 3, Lasombra:3
1 Allison Maller cel pot pre 4, Brujah:3
Library: (80 cards)
-------------------
Master (16 cards)
4 Blood Doll
1 Creepshow Casino
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
2 Dummy Corporation
1 Elysian Fields
3 Minion Tap
1 Political Hunting Ground
3 Presence
Action (8 cards)
6 Enchant Kindred
2 Legal Manipulations
Action Modifier (28 cards)
2 Bewitching Oration
4 Conditioning
8 Iron Glare
2 Seduction
4 Shadow Play
4 Shroud of Night
4 Voter Captivation
Political Action (8 cards)
1 Ancilla Empowerment
2 Conservative Agitation
1 Disputed Territory
1 Domain Challenge
1 Kindred Restructure
2 Kine Resources Contested
Reaction (8 cards)
4 Deflection
2 Second Tradition: Domain, The
2 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Combat (12 cards)
2 Entombment
2 Flash
8 Majesty
--
And so April's newsletter comes to a close. Next month we'll
have much more to talk about when Gehenna finally ships. Enjoy the End
Times, everyone.
-Eric Manch